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The September Challenge - week 3 -Results

TO THE CASTLE

The pupils (or teachers) have arrived at the station, but now they have to make the trip up to the castle. As you know, this will be by boat or by carriage. All is going to plan when something unexpected happens DUN DUN DUUUUUUN.

Name: TheloonyhermioneHouse: RAVENCLAW!!Title: Dennis Creevey and the Giant SquidRating: 1st-2nd yearsWarnings: drowning??Word Count: 361A/N: This is probably not very good quality... sorry!

Dennis stood up excitedly. The train had stopped! He rushed out with all of the other first years to the pathway. Everything here was wonderful - the trees, the people, even the pathway, curving blindly under his feet. He could hardly see the people in front of him because of the storm, but he didn’t care. He was too excited to go to Hogwarts to think about anything else.

When they reached the boats, Dennis climbed into one right behind Hagrid. He couldn’t even tell if someone had gotten in with him, but could barely hear Hagrid say “Forward!” The boats travelled so fast (or it seemed that way) that Dennis nearly lost his balance. He stood to right himself, and the next thing he knew something had wrapped itself around his leg and stuck there, pulling him into the water. Dennis had just a second to yell before it pulled him in. His fingers reached up, found nothing, and he went under. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before. He tried to stop himself from breathing in, but he couldn’t take it much longer. He grasped his fingers around the tentacles of the creature and pulled himself free. Next thing he knew, he was pulled out of the water and back into his boat.

“You alrigh’?” Hagrid asked him.

Dennis smiled. “That was fun,” he answered, eyes wide.

Hagrid shook his head, rolling his eyes. “Here, take this.” He handed over his coat, which was very heavy but made the shivering Dennis a bit warmer. He reached into the coat pockets to warm his cold hands, but one of his hands immediately withdrew – something had bitten him! He reached back in tentatively, grabbing hold of a round, flat disk with fangs.

Dennis smiled, nodding. The wizarding world was certainly full of surprises. Soon the boats came to a stop. Dennis stood up excitedly and tripped over Hagrid’s coat as he climbed out of the boat. They had arrived at Hogwarts.

~εɱɱą =)Author Page~Duel~Excerpts~Drabbles~(not-so-great)Poetry~RAVENCLAW!!Thanks so much to Toni for making this wonderful banner and avvie. Quote on avatar is from the song Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons. <3My total BFFLE is Kreacher Feacher/Loony at Heart/Taylor. Don't let her scare you. XD

I'm quite busy at the moment, so I may be pretty spotty or just not seem to appear at all. I'll hopefully be back to normal in a few months.

James is turning a blind eye to the Fanged Frisbee Sirius and Peter are tossing back and forth as they wait for the carriages - they’re not on school grounds yet, and he can’t begrudge them a bit of silliness. He’s Head Boy now and should be confiscating it, but Sirius would just nick it back anyway, so what’s the point?

Their usual mischief seems impossible this year. Not just because Filch took the Map, not just because James is Head Boy, but because things are different now. The war had taken a turn for the worse in June with a spate of Muggle-born killings, nearly thirty in one night. The Prophet had called it the Father’s Day Massacre, though it hadn’t been fathers who had been targeted. Coincidence.

James had spent that evening with his mother, neither of them mentioning there was no father in the house to celebrate anymore.

The carriages rumble up, pulled by the usual Thestrals.

Remus nudges James and points off over his shoulder. James turns to look and sees a girl with her hair in two brown plaits staring, just as James had done the first time he saw one. He nods at Remus and makes his way towards the girl.

“Hello,” he says, putting on a friendly smile. “I’m James, I’m Head Boy. Met the Thestrals, have you?”

The girl fiddles with one plait and looks between James and the Thestral nervously. “Have they always been there?” she asks quietly.

James had thought she must be a second year, seeing the carriages for the first time. She looks young enough. He’s wrong though. Oh, hell. He supposes he shouldn’t be surprised but his stomach feels like it’s filled with lead.

“They’ve always been there,” he says, “just invisible. You can only see them if...well, if you’ve seen someone die.” The girl frowns, and James offers, “My dad.”

“Mine too,” the girl says, her lip wobbling, and James pats her on the shoulder.

Someone shouts, “Annie!” and the girl turns to look. She gives him an awkward smile, then holds out her hand. “Annie Kirkpatrick. Nice to meet you.” He shakes her hand, and she’s off, going to join a group of girls.

Name: I Murdered Snape on Voldemort's Orders (Ragini Niddle)House: Lions cubs aplenty Title: Clusters of CockroachWarnings/Ratings: Ickle Firsties; danger...Word count: A Lot! (306 by my count, which may be wrong...)A/N: Pay attention to the rain and less to the plot!

Clusters of Cockroach

The bitter rain pounded monotonous rhythm into their summered brains. The carriages lolled along the swamped road, spinning through the deep, muddy puddles. They longed for a blue sky again, enriches with the glorious sun. But the heavens were unforgiving, lashing out their anger on the students below.

It was miserable, and even Fred found that he had lost his sense of humor in the unending storm. He glumly glanced at his twin brother, who shrugged and stared out the window at the constant sheets of rain.

"Hope this lets up," Lee commented, his dreadlocks drenched.

Fred nodded vigorously. "Bet you anything that Oliver will make us fly in this forsaken weather."

Just then, the carriage began to whine and the ride became worse than a roller coaster, shunting the passengers up and down. The door, poorly latched, flew open and the boys felt the horrendous spray of the wind come rushing in.

"Shut it!!!!" Lee shouted, and they reached for the door, wrestling to pull it closed.

Wham! It banged shut, the wind now howling against it. Fred flew backwards into George and a bunch of small hard black objects were tossed into the air.

Lee picked one up. "Cockroach cluster? What are you doing with these?"

The twins shared an evil grin, the ghastly weather driven from their minds.

"Don't worry about it, Lee. We just like to eat them," George answered innocently, but with a lot of effort. They couldn't pull the wool over Lee's eyes very well.

But Lee let it go. "Just hope you let me in on whatever project it is you're doing. And don't you dare try to feed those nasty things to me!"

The twins laughed, and they felt that the blasted ride to Hogwarts was worth it after that, dreams and plans whirring in their mischievous brains.

Name: AidaLuthienHouse: Badgers Forever!Title: Pure-blood PrincessesRating: 3rd-5thWarnings: languageWord Count: 484A/N: My internal theme this month is Slytherins - Tracey Davis for Week 1, Severus Snape for Week 2 and now Bellatrix Black. ... considering that they're all from different eras, we'll see who I end up with for Week 4. Also, I was told that the proper thing to say to someone on first meeting them is "how do you do?" and the appropriate response is "how do you do?"

Unlike some of the other first years, Bellatrix Black and Callista Rosier knew exactly what to expect of their first journey to Hogwarts. They had passed through the wall between Platforms 9 and 10 at King’s Cross Station with no trouble, without causing a fuss. They had claimed a car with their cousins, and heartily glared at anyone who wasn’t a member of the Sacred 28 (and the Weasleys). They left their older cousins to the actual work of hexing the undesirables. When the Hogwarts Express finally stopped in Hogsmeade, they had immediately left the train. They only waited for Kinsey, the Keeper of the Keys and Gate, because it was too dark to find the path to the boats on their own.

At this point, the cousins had a bit of a conundrum. Bellatrix claimed a boat, but Kinsey insisted that all boats have four students. They were only two. The girls waited nervously, the boat rocking slightly, as the mudbloods and half-bloods clambered into the other boats.

Bellatrix critically eyed each student that went by, while Callista stared at the dark water from her seat at the prow. Almost everyone had gone into other boats.

A pair of boys approached them. “Are you waiting for someone? Do you mind if we cross with you?”

Bellatrix took a quick glance around. If it wasn’t these two boys, it would be someone worse. “Yes, go ahead.”

The boys climbed into the boat. “I’m Frank Longbottom,” the blond said. Bellatrix approved: the Longbottoms were also part of the Sacred 28.

“And I’m Harold Potter,” the dark haired boy added. Potter wasn’t a family that Bellatrix was familiar with, but he was already in the boat. Unfortunately, Potter was a common enough surname that it could be magical or Muggle in origin. At least, it was Longbottom that was seated closer to her.

Kinsley ordered the boats forward, and they left the shore.

“My name is Bellatrix Black.”

Callista turned around long enough to introduce herself before returning to her observation of the horizon.

“How do you do?” Longbottom asked, politely.

A smile ghosted over Bellatrix’s lips. At least he was polite. “How do you do?”

Formalities completed, the first years fell silent. Bellatrix turned her attention to the horizon, waiting for the castle to come into view.

“Ow! What’d you do that for?”

Bellatrix turned around to face the boys. Longbottom carefully removed a Fanged Frisbee from his hand. “That hurt,” he complained.

Bellatrix sighed. If they wanted to ruin their only boat trip to Hogwarts so be it. That was their business. It was clear that neither of them was worth her time. She turned back around, as the castle came into view.

The boat rocked viciously, back and forth.

“What is your -”

Bellatrix didn’t get the chance to finish. The cold water of the lake cut her off, as the boat overturned.

Name: HarmonyFan4lyfHouse: SlytherinTitle: Seeing StarsRating: 1st-2nd yearsWarnings: perfectionWord Count: 492A/N: This is dedicated to Carole. She knows why. And no, this does not fit the same canon as my previous two drabbles for this challenge. This version of events is much better.

Hermione pauses at the carriage. Dean offers her a hand, as if she’s pausing because she’s tired.

Hermione is tired but it’s not from the long train ride. It’s because for the past few hours she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Harry’s lips on her cheek, Harry’s hands on her arms, Harry’s eyes smiling back at her.

“You go on. I’ll get the next carriage.”

But she doesn’t get the next carriage. Instead, Hermione walks.

The minutes pass into one another until she’s been walking for half an hour. It’s then that she hears the rustling of the leaves. She whips out her wand.

A boy with messy black hair tumbles out of the bushes and she gasps.

“Harry? What are you doing here?”

Harry walks towards her, arms at his sides, a nervous smile on his face. She tries hard but the blush blooms across her cheeks before she can stop it.

“A report came into the office a few minutes ago about a cursed Fanged Frisbee lurking around the gates.”

Hermione coughs, trying to clear the lump in her throat at the sight of him. “Found it?”

“Nah,” he replies, and it is almost a whisper. “I think it was a hoax.”

He’s so close now that she can feel his breath on her skin. He reaches out and grabs her shoulders.

“I’m not cross, though. I get to see you, again.”

“I bet you’d prefer it if I was Ginny,” she whispers, dipping her head.

His hands cup her face, and now her breath truly catches in her chest.

“No. I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind all day.”

“Oh, Harry,” she sighs into his chest. “I’ve been so apprehensive about going back to Hogwarts without you and Ron and now I have all these feelings, too. What is wrong with us?”

“There is nothing wrong with you, Hermione. You are perfect and… I love you.”

He tilts her face up and presses her lips against his own. It’s soft and sweet. Suddenly, Hermione feels a tingling in her feet, rising up her legs to her abdomen and up, up, up until it reaches her chest. Her heart beats faster, her breaths come in short pants as Harry continues to kiss her, harder and fiercer than before. It’s like she is going to burst and as the word ‘love’ floats through her mind, golden stars erupt from her and Harry, swirling around them. They break away to take in the physical embodiment of their coupling.

Someone sighs nearby and they turn to see Luna and Dean staring back at them.

Without a word, Luna begins to dance around them, chanting another language that sounds like archaic Latin as Dean draws golden hearts in the air with the tip of his wand to match the stars that are still floating around the beautiful couple.

Okay, I had a little problem with this week because there were niggles with each drabble (canon facts, or SPaG, or ... crack fickery - giggles). However, I really did not want to cake woman anyone, so I am awarding one winner who will win 10 points for her house.